Dreams do Exist
by Zilver Wings
Summary: He was cold ever since tragedy struck. As he studies abroad, he meets his roommate, a bubbly girl by the name of Kinomoto Sakura. As time pasts by, his feelings towards his roommate slowly changes. But would happen when he learns of her secret?
1. Prologue

Dreams Do Exist

By Zilver Wings

Prologue

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Summary: revised He was cold ever since tragedy struck him at a young age. In order to prepare to take over the Li clan, he went to Tokyo University to study Economics. On his way, he met a strong girl who was diagnosed with the very same disease that had caused his father's death. As time pasts by, his feelings change towards his roommate. However, what would happen when Sakura's secret is slowly revealed to him? S+S

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"Xiao Lang, you are going to Japan this summer."

The boy, hearing his name being addressed, turned to look at his mother at the door in bewilderment, temporarily abandoning his martial arts practice in the garden.

"What?"

"Since you are to take over the Li clan as soon you finish university, I've enrolled you to Tokyo University, which is one of the best schools for Economics, which of course you are studying. They are nice enough to have accepted you on such short notice."

The boy looked down, his face steaming with anger. Ever since the day he had been admitted into this world, everything had already been planned out for him. He never had any say to anything. Especially after his father's sudden death thirteen years ago, his mother had started to be very strict to him and trained him very hard in order to make the Li clan strong when he grew up.

He never did anything normal children did. He was taught to be cold and control his emotions because it was a human weakness. When others were in school learning their alphabets, he was already starting to learn Spanish and Japanese at home. When others were playing happily in the playground, he was mastering his martial arts.

But what he could not possibly stand was the coldness he felt. He had never tasted family love or any love that mattered, for the only people he was surrounded by was his mother and the elders.

His mother avoided him and rarely spoke to him unless it was necessary, and he knew it was because of his resemblance to his father. His sisters had all moved away after they got married when he was merely a toddler, and almost never came back to visit them. The elders taught him everything he needed to become a powerful leader and treated him with respect, but nothing more.

He knew better than to question his mother any further, he was nothing but a puppet.

"Fine."

"I'm glad you're accepting this."

With this, Yelan walked away with her red robes trailing behind her, her face void of any emotion.

Like he had any choice, the boy thought sarcastically.

----

The orientation had already ended, and he was lying on his bed in the room of his dorm, staring at the ceiling.

He was supposed to have a girl roommate by the name of Kinomoto Sakura, but it was noon already now, and she still hadn't appeared. His hopes were rising, since he was a loner, but just then, he heard a click of the doorknob and he quickly got up and walked out to be greeted by a foreign sight.

A petite girl with shoulder length auburn hair was standing next to the opened door with her back turned from him, a luggage standing next to her, and was kissing her father's cheek, a kind looking middle-aged man who was glancing worriedly at her daughter.

"Sakura, be careful."

"Hai, otou-san."

Then, a young man came into the picture and ruffled the girl's hair.

"Kaijuu, it's ridiculous how they would place you here with a boy cause there's simply no other spare room, I don't see what's so great about this university if they can't even afford another room for you."

"Onii-chan, it's okay, he's not going to gobble me up."

The man's eyes softened.

"Fine, but call me if anything happens, and don't overwork yourself too much, it's bad for your health."

"I know. I'm already late, I've got a lot of unpacking to do, Sayonara otou-san, onii-chan."

The girl waved a goodbye and closed the door softly before turning around to see a boy in a black T-shirt and white shorts leaning against the wall, his eyes never leaving her wide emerald ones.

She felt her heart skip a beat. He was drop dead gorgeous with his untamed chestnut hair and intense amber eyes that seem to draw her soul in.

He was tall and lean, with a fairly dark complexion, which she concluded was due to the hours of exercise outdoors under the sun. For once, she was loss for words.

Then, she remembered her manners and walked up to him and stuck out her hand awkwardly.

"Uhh, hi, I'm Kinomoto Sakura, and I'm your roommate. I am guessing that you are Li Syaoran, right?"

He nodded his head and grasped her hand to give it a firm shake. He was taught to be polite and never to give dead fish shakes.

He waited for a moment, when he saw that she had nothing more to say, he went back to his room and shut the door. The breath Sakura had been holding in ever since her encountering with him was let out and she sighed in relief.

He was so rude, and so intimidating. That icy expression he had on practically freaked her out when she first saw him.

'Oh my gosh, how am I to ever live with him for a year?'

She gave out another sigh, one of frustration, and dragged her feet to her room and began to unpack her belongings. It was simple but nice, she concluded. The wallpapers and carpet was pink, her favorite color, and even with the closet, bed and desk, it was still quite spacious.

Meanwhile, in the room next to hers, Syaoran was in his original posture, but he was in deep thought.

That Kinomoto girl seemed to be those happy and carefree ones. He admitted to himself that if he hadn't seen her depart with her family, he would have been nicer to her. She portrait the perfect family, a thing that he never and would never have, he thought bitterly. He was jealous, why was life so unfair? If only he wasn't born in one of the most powerful families in Hong Kong and even the whole of Asia, if only his father wasn't diagnosed with leukemia and leave him with such a heavy burden on his shoulders, if only, if only…

It was useless to dream, it was simply a waste of time and energy thinking about things that would never exist.

He took out an Economics textbook and began studying for tomorrow. His pains and sufferings left him as he engaged himself in the different theories and facts.

After hours of hard work, Sakura finally finished unpacking, she had a cup noodle and grinned as she thought of the reaction of Touya, her onii-chan, if he saw what she was having for dinner.

However, her happy mood diminished and was replaced by sadness.

Life was unfair. How could it be that some perfectly healthy people would commit suicide because they were sick of life and she, who loved life, would have so limited time?

Tears threatened to fall but she kept it in, she must be strong. Even if she didn't have as much time as others did, she would still make the best out of it.

To be continued…

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What do you think? This is a revised version, I deleted the cardcapting because it didn't fit, hope you liked it. This chapter is short and not really interesting because it's just like an introduction. Please R&R. By the way, I'm just in my first year of Economics, and I'm still in high school, so I don't really know how it works, don't kill me if it's all wrong, I'll try my best.


	2. False Illusions

Dreams Do Exist

By Zilver Wings

Chapter 1

False illusions

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Summary: revised He was cold ever since tragedy struck him at a young age. In order to prepare to take over the Li clan, he went to Tokyo University to study Economics. On his way, he met a strong girl who was diagnosed with the very same disease that had caused his father's death. As time pasts by, his feelings change towards his roommate. However, what would happen when Sakura's secret is slowly revealed to him? S+S

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"Hoe?!"

The next morning, Sakura found herself dangling dangerously on the edge of the bed as a pink alarm clock lay limply on the floor.

She sweat dropped, knowing that she had swiped the alarm clock this morning in frustration when it rung.

'Remind me to buy my 58th alarm clock this year.'

She sighed and lifted herself out of the bed tiredly and changed into a button- down white blouse with silver diagonal stripes and jean shorts before getting out of her room and going into the toilet to brush her teeth.

She got back out and stared dumbfounded at the boy that was currently opening the door and getting out.

Was she dreaming, or was someone breaking into her house?

Then, her mind cleared and realization dawned her. He was her roommate in university of course, that cold, intolerable, rude, mean…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Syaoran got out and said calmly before leaving.

"It's 9 o'clock already, and almost all classes start at 9:05 on the first day."

Sakura glanced at the clock, which struck nine at the exact moment.

"Which means, you're already late."

Slam.

The sound resounded through the silent room, until a crash and a several yelps were heard a few seconds later.

Syaoran, who stood outside waiting for the lift, heard all of this, and twitched his lips.

----

It was 9:20 am.

Sakura managed to find the right lecture hall after a few wrong turns. No matter how hard she had tried, ever since she was in kindergarten, she and lateness seemed to stick together like peanut butter and jelly.

She tried to slip into the crowded Economics class unnoticed, but her sneakers must have hated her. For as soon she stepped foot on the polished wooden floor, her sneakers began to squeak nosily.

Red-faced, she quickly squeaked her way to the nearest wooden bench at the back and slipped in as the lecturer grimaced.

Sakura turned her head to see the only person who was occupying the bench was no other than her _wonderful_ roommate. She groaned inwardly.

"You done staring? If I were you, I'd rather concentrate on what the teacher is teaching."

If it weren't the slight movement of his mouth, she would never have guessed that he, who was looking at the lecturer in deep concentration, was actually speaking.

Sakura took a deep breath before tearing her burning gaze from him and act very mature by not stomping on his foot like she often did with her own onii-chan.

She laid back and listened to the teacher talk about the basic stuff about the definitions of Economics and simple microeconomics and macroeconomics. (A/N: First of all, I'm 15 and far from being in an university, and this is only my first year in Economics, and I'm not great at the subject, or even near it, so don't laugh at me, after all, it's just a fiction! I sound so irresponsible, but I'll try my best.) She had learnt all of this in high school, and even did quite a bit of research about this subject herself. After all, she was not the student who got the highest scores every year in Economics for nothing.

Ever since she was young, she had always been dreaming of becoming a businesswoman. Although her once perfectly planned out life was shattered, she would still try to achieve what she could.

Unbeknownst by her, a certain amber-eyed boy had been glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked so relaxed. Well, of course she did, only the top would be admitted into this university, and what the lecturer was talking about was not worth listening to.

But it was so strange that she would be majoring in Economics. She looked like a simpleton, he thought she was going to study, study, what though? Oh, he shouldn't waste time thinking about his roommate.

"Now, enough of my blabbering, how about you guys tell me some dreams you have and are going to achieve them? Everything can be related to Economics. Hmm, how about the late girl? Yes, you."

Sakura flustered at the address.

"Uhh, sir, I…I…" she stuttered, her face going redder by the second.

"It's okay, we all have some silly wishes and dreams, just tell us."

"No sir, I don't have any dreams." Sakura calmed down and said quietly, her usual cheerfulness gone.

"I can't afford it. In my case, dreams are only false illusions that would make me suffer for I'll never be able to get them no matter how hard I try."

Syaoran and the rest of the class stared at the girl in shock.

The teacher was struggling to say something when the bell rung and saved him.

"Class dismissed."

The class filed out of the class nosily, all but Sakura and Syaoran. A few girls had actually timidly followed Syaoran, but he went by unnoticed, since he was lost in his own thoughts as he and Sakura went on their separate ways.

She didn't have any dreams? How could anyone live a life with no dreams? She seemed such a cheerful and carefree girl. Even he had dreams, although they were not really his dreams, but the dreams his mother input into his mind, to become a strong and capable leader and make the Li clan even more powerful than now.

Finally, a blonde girl was bold enough to step in front of him and stopped him from going forward, breaking him out of his trance.

Sakura was putting her books in her new locker across the hall when she saw the girl who had confronted Syaoran was leaning miserably against the wall, her ocean blue eyes glassy and unfocused.

So he was cold to everyone, not just her. A part of her felt relieved, but another part felt sorry for the girl. Too bad she was busy, or she'd help the girl.

----

Sakura was exhausted when she opened the doorknob of her dorm that evening.

She looked around for the sight of her roommate. The room was dark except for a weak stream of light coming out from the creak of Syaoran's room.

Timidly, she slowly walked up and knocked softly.

When no reply was heard, she slowly opened the door and found that it was empty.

She surveyed the room in awe.

It was almost like hers except everything was forest green and it was incredibly tidy and neat.

She was about to leave when something glinted silver caught her eye.

She walked towards the wooden desk and saw that the thing was a medium-sized silver photo frame with a word carved on it- Xiao Lang.

Out of curiosity, she picked it up and gave a soft gasp.

In it was a yellowing photograph of a young boy with tousled chestnut hair and eyes laughing in glee as the man with the same features lift him off the meadows behind. The young boy was definitely Li. If it weren't for his eyes, she would have never guessed that the boy was her grouchy roommate. He looked so carefree, she wondered what made him change so much…

Something was being switched off in the bathroom, and suddenly, a shadow towered from behind her and the frame was snatched right out of her hands violently and slammed onto the desk.

Sakura turned around fearfully to be met with a fuming Syaoran.

He took a threatening step towards her, making her stumble backwards. His piercing gaze behind his dripping wet bangs bore into her frightened emerald orbs.

"What are you doing in my room?"

He asked in a deep menacing voice.

Gosh, who'd ever think that a guy would be so touchy about privacy?

"Uhhh, to ask you what'd you're going to have for dinner?"

She answered truthfully, although it sounded terribly lame right now.

With an expression as cold as ice, he took another step forward, causing her to back away from him, resulting her to slam against the wall in the small room.

He kept on advancing on her and pinned her by putting both of his hands on either side of her head, and leaned in until their faces were only centimeters apart.

A drop of water fell from his hair onto Sakura's nose, but she dared not advert her gaze away from his. She felt her heart began to speed for some unknown reason.

Finally, he spoke in a tight and demanding voice.

"I thought that you knew better than that, but since we're both new here, I'll let you go this time. You are never to come into my room or touch my possessions without my permission, are we clear?"

His warmth breath tickled her slender neck, and his eyes flashed dangerously, as if daring her to disagree. She swallowed with great effort and nodded her head quickly.

He gave her another hard glare before dropping his hands to his sides once more and began to walk away from her and take a towel to dry his hair.

Shocked, Sakura walked stiffly out of the door when she heard Syaoran's voice.

"Hey."

She turned around in fear.

He seemed to scrutinize her face before he opened his mouth.

"_No sir, I don't have any dreams. I can't afford it. In my case, dreams are only false illusions that would make me suffer for I'll never be able to get them no matter how hard I try."_

"Uhh, there's some fried rice in the kitchen. You can have it for dinner."

Then, seeing her surprised face, his scowl returned.

"There's poison in it. Eat it or drop it, I don't care."

Sakura balled up her fists, but then, sighing, she went to the kitchen.

'Bastard…'

To be continued…

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I have no idea what this chapter is about, just rubbish. Oh well, next chapter's gonna be more interesting, hopefully. I appreciate all of your reviews, but of course, I would always be happy to receive more. After all, although I know that it's very irresponsible, it's natural that a person would update their story according to the number of reviews received, and so do I. P

Please R&R.


	3. Christmas Present

Dreams Do Exist

By Zilver Wings

Chapter 2

Christmas present

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Summary: revised He was cold ever since tragedy struck him at a young age. In order to prepare to take over the Li clan, he went to Tokyo University to study Economics. On his way, he met a strong girl who was diagnosed with the very same disease that had caused his father's death. As time pasts by, his feelings change towards his roommate. However, what would happen when Sakura's secret is slowly revealed to him? S+S

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He soon realized that his roommate was absent every Saturday morning, not that he cared of course. But he did admit he was getting curious.

"Ohayo."

He heard the clock of the door and the cheerful greeting, which made his head spin. Couldn't that girl be quiet for one second?

It was already winter, and yet, he was sweating.

She caught him staring at her with unfocused eyes, his tanned face tinted with an unusual pink.

"Daijoubu?" Her face was masked with concern.

Syaoran waved his hand absentmindedly and stumbled into the kitchen.

Sakura quickly discarded her handbag and followed him to the kitchen, only to find him pouring alcohol into the pan.

Horrified, she immediately snatched it away from him, and he protested as he tried to make a grab for it, but his attempt was pitiful.

"Hey, I'm trying to cook here. Why'd you take away the oil? Give it back!"

Sakura was about to retort when Syaoran tripped over his other slippers and crashed down upon her.

She shrieked as her head first came in contact with the soft carpet floor outside the kitchen, but was silenced when something warm covered her mouth.

Her body heated up when she realized that the 'thing' was her roommate's lips.

She wiggled underneath him, but he paid no attention to it.

With his eyes still closed, he pressed his lips more forcefully over hers. Lost in the trance, Sakura slowly responded back as he used his tongue to part her lips and enter her mouth.

"Sweet," he murmured into her mouth.

Apprehension dawned her.

Sakura pushed him away with all of her strength and scurried away.

But seeing his dreamy condition, she didn't have the heart to leave him on the floor.

With tremulous effort, she finally got him to drape his arm across her shoulder as she dragged him into his bedroom tiredly.

She turned around to leave when he suddenly grabbed her hand in a death grip.

"Don't leave," he whimpered.

That was so out-of-character of him that Sakura stared at him before coming back to her senses. "I, I'm not leaving. I'll come back."

His grip loosened and Sakura freed her hand easily. The odd sensation came flooding back as she headed to the bathroom.

'He stole my first, and yet, why don't I feel mad?'

She wet a towel and walked back to Syaoran's room. He was already fast asleep when she entered.

She folded the towel neatly in half before placing it on his forehead. Unable to resist the temptation, she bent down and kissed his cheek tenderly before closing his door noiselessly behind her.

'You stole my first kiss away, the one I've been saving for my true love. If so, why did it feel so right?'

----

Sakura stared at the sky upwards.

Snow had fallen, covering the world in white, turning the meadows into a beautiful winter land.

Exams were over now, even though she was nervous, she was sure she would pass Economics with flying colors, just like always.

There were only a few more days until Christmas. A lot of her classmates had already gone home to spend the vacation with their family, but she stayed behind. Tomoeda never snowed, and she wanted to experience her first white Christmas. Funny how Li had also decided to stay.

Sakura sat in the common room, a sofa near the window, giving her a lovely view outside while sipping hot chocolate and reading a magazine in a relaxed manner.

"Aren't you cold?"

She felt herself move down as someone sat next to her.

Already knowing who it was, her face started to blush a pretty shade of pink.

"Not really."

When she was sure that her face had returned to its normal color, she looked up and sweat dropped.

"Uhh," her eyes moved down to his body. "aren't you wearing a bit too much?"

Syaoran shrugged nonchalantly and tugged on the collar of his turtleneck.

"Noop."

He was wearing a white turtleneck, a black vest and a forest green freeze, a big comparison to her own pink pullover, jeans and sneakers.

Shortly after the incident, Syaoran recovered, still puzzled by the miraculous towel that appeared on his forehead that night, although having a good idea about who did it. There was also this strange dream, which involved his roommate, the one he just couldn't keep out of his mind.

"Did you participate in the Secret Santa?" Sakura tried to break the ice, and wasn't really expecting an answer. She choked on her hot chocolate when she saw him give a slight nod.

He had been a lot nicer to her after being sick. She sure hoped he didn't remember their small encounter.

"Really, who?"

Syaoran tugged on the collar of his turtleneck before answering her.

"It's 'secret', remember? Are you participating in it too?"

Sakura felt a wave of foreign emotions, but brushed it away quickly.

"Hai. I just thought of what to give him today."

A him? He wondered if participating the Secret Santa was a good idea after all.

"Hey, aren't you leaving now? After all, today is Saturday."

Sakura gawked at him in alarm.

"Y..you know?" She stuttered, unable to contain the dread in her stomach.

Syaoran quickly shook his head, seeing her expression.

"Iie, iie, you just seem to go out every Saturday morning."

He watched as she breath a sigh of relief.

"Nothing, I just postponed it to two weeks since he is busy and can't see me."

Unable to be with her in the same room any longer, he stood up hastily and said a quick goodbye before running out of the room, leaving a baffled Sakura behind.

'It looks like he doesn't remember the kiss. But did I say something to offend him?'

----

Syaoran walked in the streets, his hands in his pockets, and his head buried in his pullover, muttering strings of curses.

He should really stop doing things before he thinks. It was his own fault for running away without checking that he had worn enough clothing.

He shivered as a strong gust of wind blew past his face, removing his bangs from his eyes.

Then, at the display window of a small shop called 'Twin Bells', he saw the perfect Christmas gift for her.

Without hesitating, he jogged and pushed open the door.

"Ohayo, sir, what can I do for you?"

"I would like to have that."

----

Finally, it was Christmas day.

Syaoran stared as he watched Sakura, clad in an Elf's outfit with a Christmas hat put a huge brown linen bag on the sofa.

"Whew, who'd ever thought that being Santa's helper would be so tiring?"

She complained as she began to shuffle her hands inside the bag.

Moments later, she had already sorted out two huge piles of presents, making him raise his eyebrows.

Looking back up, she pointed at one pile of presents and grinned widely at him.

"Li-kun, it seems as if you have a lot of fans. These are all for you."

He couldn't help but smirk.

"You know, your presents are as many as mines. Do you have a lot of admirers then?"

Sakura stuck out her tongue at him and began to put them around the small Christmas tree she bought.

During the past few days, she had locked herself up inside her room and was distant to him. Syaoran was glad that his roommate was back to her usual bubbly self. After getting used to her chattering, he had felt rather lonely when she ignored him, but it wasn't as if he would admit it to anyone.

"Li-kun?"

"Nani?"

He turned around to face her. He ignored the want to brush his hands across those smooth, rosy cheeks of hers.

"Do you want to open your presents right now or wait until tomorrow?"

She sounded uncertain, but he was sure he could sense hope in her voice.

Feeling a bit excited himself, he walked to the tree and sat close to her.

"Why not now?"

They went through each of their presents carefully, which were generally chocolates. They didn't recognize most of the people, but their cards all read the same thing: that they hoped to know them better and maybe even go out together sometime.

Finally, they each had only one present left.

"Li-kun, why don't you open yours first?"

Her voice sounded oddly eager as he began to unwrap the green rectangular box. He wondered if the person chose the color green purposely, since it was his favorite color. But all his doubts vanished when he opened the box.

He picked up the olive-colored long scarf with thick white strips to find a white envelope inside the neatly folded scarf.

He opened the envelope and took out the card inside and read it slowly. After a while, he looked up and gave a genuine smile at the tense Sakura.

Now, he understood why she had locked herself up in her room.

"Arigatou, it's perfect."

Her stiff shoulders relaxed and she smiled back at him.

"No problem. Now, I'll open mines."

She opened the small beige box and gasped when she saw the content inside. Then, she began to giggle as she pulled out a tiny but delicate pink bear with small brown crystals as eyes and the paws.

"Kawaii! I can't believe it, this is the limited edition of the 'Spotch' bears collection. I have the whole collection at home except this one, it must have cost a fortune!"

Then, as if realizing something, she put down the bear and looked around.

"Hmm, why didn't the person send me a card or something to tell me who they are?"

"Maybe they don't want you to find out."

Sakura frowned and squinted her eyes at the bear for a split second before averting her gaze back to Syaoran. Her face cleared and she crawled a bit forward to him and gave him a bear hug.

"I can't believe it, you're the one who gave it to me, aren't you?"

He was thankful that she couldn't see his face go red.

"H..how did you know?" he splutter. He was sure he didn't attach anything to the bear.

She pulled away from him, with a soft smile adorning her features. He could swear he saw an affectionate look in those eyes of hers, but again, he must have been hallucinating.

"I know, because it was you."

"Kinomoto, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me when I was sick."

"Sakura."

"Nani?" he asked, confused.

"Call me Sakura."

"Uhh…"

"But only if I get to call you Syaoran."

"Do, do whatever you like."

He looked away, a blush creeping to his cheeks.

"Syaoran-kun, Merry Christmas!" Her eyes shone brightly as she said his name for the first time, and it felt great. Secretly, she treasured this 'present' more than the teddy bear.

No one outside his family had ever called his first name before. It was strange, but somehow, he didn't mind, he didn't mind it at all. The dream came back to him. He knew his feelings for his roommate was starting to change. He felt as if he should push it away, but his conscious told him not to.

"Merry Christmas…Sakura."

To be continued…

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Okay, I'm seriously going to stop complaining about the reviews and blah blah cause first, it's not going to improve the situation, second, I know it's irritating, and third, it's discouraging me.

This is my Christmas present to you all, I'm just rushing this chapter because I'm afraid I won't have time to update next week, so forgive my grammar mistakes and the scenes.

Anyway, early Merry Christmas to you all and please R&R, that'd be a great present. D

Tis the season to be jolly, but stupid exams just had to ruin it all.


	4. Showing concern

Dreams Do Exist

By Zilver Wings

Chapter 3

Showing concern

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Summary: revised He was cold ever since tragedy struck him at a young age. In order to prepare to take over the Li clan, he went to Tokyo University to study Economics. On his way, he meets his roommate, a bubbly girl by the name of Kinomoto Sakura. As time pasts by, his feelings towards his roommate slowly change. But would happen when he learns of her secret?

-----------

The Christmas season was over, and everything was back to normal.

"Hai? Wakatta, hai, daijoubu. Sayonara."

Sakura hung up the phone and flopped back down on the sofa to continue watching her favorite anime, Naruto, after a tiring school day.

"Who was that?"

The door of Syaoran's room creaked open and the owner of it popped his head out.

"Oh, uhh, no one, I mean…my friend!"

She answered enthusiastically, making Syaoran raise his eyebrows in question.

She heard him mutter something incoherently before closing the door and continue on whatever he was working on.

Sakura shook her head. That boy studied too hard for his own good. He was constantly in his room, studying practically everything in the whole universe. She knew he was smart, he was very bright in his Economics class, just like she was, but even she didn't spend half the time he did studying. She couldn't understand how he could study six subjects for what… six hours a day on school days, and more than ten hours a day during the weekends. Seriously, he was either school-crazy, or he had nothing else better to do.

She had never even seen him pick up the telephone to call someone, as if he had no relation with anybody. Even at school, when people tried to talk to him, he would just brush them off or simply, walk away and ignore them.

She felt a throbbing pain on her arm again and began to massage it through her thick shirt. Lately, she seemed to have grown weaker and less resistant to cold.

Another wave of faintness hit her. Unable to stay awake any longer, she collapsed on the sofa.

----

Syaoran rolled himself away from his desk of Economic and Physics reference books as he yawned and stretched.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and was surprised to find it was already well past eight.

Strange. His annoying roommate had never failed to saunter casually in his room everyday and annoy the hell out of him at seven just to have dinner with him. What happened to make her break out this routine?

Although he knew he certainly _did not_ miss this, strange enough, it bugged him.

His stomach chose that exact moment to groan, indicating it was time to be fed.

Oh well, he thought as he rose from his chair lazily and stabled himself before turning the doorknob. As long he was staying in this apartment, he might as well grab a bite with his roommate.

Once the soundproof door was opened, he immediately heard heavy metal music blaring as he stepped out of his room.

'A perfect example of not judging a book by its cover.' He thought.

Who would have knew that a girl as bubbly and neat as she would actually be into this kind of music?

But his smirk subsided when he saw the picture in front of him, and instead, had to restrain the smile that was forcing its way up his lips.

His roommate, who he had assumed to be sitting properly in front of the television, was laying on the sofa in a snake-like position, with her face turned heavenward, and her left arm dangling in midair.

Syaoran's slippers padded noiselessly so as not to wake her, stopped when they reached the edge of the sofa.

He hovered over her small frame, casting a shadow on her face as he studied her, drinking in her every detail.

Her eyes, which were closed, concealed her usual bright emerald eyes, but emphasized her long and thick eyelashes. Her nose was delicate, her mouth was tiny but full, and her skin was as soft as powder. As reluctant he was, he had to admit that, even though her annoying nature sometimes drove him absolutely nuts, she was really perfect in both her appearance and personality, just like the female lead character in the romance novel "Flawless" his sisters once forced him to read when he was younger. (A/N: "Flawless", hehe, my other fanfic.)

Out of a sudden, his face started to heat up as he recalled his dream concerning his roommate.

As his eyes lingered longer on her face, the urge to lower his head and succumb to his longer became stronger and stronger. However, just when his face was merely centimeters away from Sakura's, he stopped as he searched her face. Something was wrong.

He drew back his head and examined her again. It didn't take him long to find out the problem.

Her cherry lips were unusually pale, and her cheeks had also lost its natural blush.

His eyes left her face and focused on her body, which he now realized was a strange position to be in, almost as if she had just fallen on the couch unexpectedly and froze.

"Oi." It was not abnormal for her not to wake up since he knew she was a heavy sleeper judging by the number of alarm clocks in her room. But still, she should at least have shown some response.

Worry etched on his face as he kneeled down beside her and began to shake her shoulders.

"Oi, Oi Kinomoto! Wake up, it's dinnertime!"

Still no response.

He touched her forehead, but her temperature seemed normal. Then, he checked her pulse, which was slow and uneven. It was then did he realize how cold her body was.

Panic rose in him.

Quickly, he ran to his room and draped one of his larger jackets around her picked her up easily, since she was surprisingly light even with her rather thick clothing. Her body felt right in the arc of his arms, but there was no time to doodle on these things.

After opening the door with some difficulty, he began to run downstairs to the emergency room on the ground floor.

It took a few seconds of impatient pounding on the door next to the emergency room before it opened to reveal a woman in her late forties.

"Oh dear, that sweetheart has fainted hasn't she?"

Syaoran only nodded, since he was panting heavily. His stomach began to groan again, making him flush in embarrassment as he saw the nurse try to hide her smile.

Walking back into the room, she emerged minutes later with a key in one hand and a steamy cup noodles in another.

She opened the door of the emergency room and motioned Syaoran to come to the bed. As soon the weight on Syaoran's arms disappeared after he laid Sakura carefully on the bed, his knees buckled beneath him, and he felt right into the chair next to the bed in exhaustion.

The nurse handed him the cup noodles and a pair of chopsticks wordlessly before turning to her new patient and studying her.

"What's her name?"

The voice broke him out of his reverie, causing him to stutter as he spoke.

"K…Kinomoto Sakura. I am her roommate, Li Syaoran, we are both first graders."

"I see." She paused, took Sakura's temperature, before speaking again.

"Temperature's normal, but she is so cold. Does she have any disease, for example, anemia, which caused her to faint?"

Syaoran scratched the back of his head, making his already tousled hair even messier as he started to recall his memory.

"No, she never told me. But then again, we were never very close."

"In that case, I guess she'll be staying here until she wakes up. There's no need to contact the hospital since it's nothing severe. You can go back to your room and continue on whatever you were doing, I'll take care of her. Only she knows what is wrong with herself since the records of the students is in the office and they are all out for dinner."

"It's okay, I'll stay with her until she wakes up." Syaoran responded almost too quickly. He blushed slightly when he saw the look on the woman's face.

"Fine, I'll leave you two alone. I'm sure she would want the first thing she sees when she wakes up is you. Sigh, young love."

Syaoran opened his mouth to protest but the door was already closed.

He sighed and dug his fork into his cup noodles. This wasn't exactly the ideal dinner he had in mind, but it would have to do.

"Where am I?"

A faint voice broke out, almost making him drop his half-eaten cup noodles.

He immediately looked up to see a Sakura struggling to sit up on the bed as she looked curiously at her surroundings.

He wanted to help her, but he forced himself to stay impassive at her futile attempts.

"You're in the school emergency room. You fainted in the living room so I had to carry you here." He said coldly, with a hint of annoyance in them.

Sakura winced slightly when she saw the cup noodles in his hand.

"Gomen, I'm alright now. I'll just stand up and, itai!"

She put her legs on the side of the bed and attempted to stand up, but her weak legs could not support her weight, and so she fell down on her knees.

Shocked, Syaoran put his cup noodles carelessly on the floor before rushing to the other side of the bed. Putting his hand on her waist, he hoisted her up and helped her back to the bed.

"Baka! What the hell were you thinking?"

He yelled at her furiously. However, unlike the previous times, Sakura did not feel scared. Instead, warmth spread through her body.

Her roommate cared about her.

"Oi, Are you listening to me?!"

To be continued…

----

Haha, I haven't uploaded for half a year, a new record set! dodges rubbish

I didn't really intend on writing this chapter until I saw that the last time I updated was last year already. Oh well, there aren't as many enthusiastic readers here compared to my other stories since the reviews were dropping, so I decided not to update so frequently.

By the way, this story won't be long cause the plot is not complicated, there aren't many readers, and I don't have much inspiration for this story anymore.

HappyTofu- Yup, it's kind of fast cause I decided to make this story short. No, actually, it's because I'm not good in writing details and stuff.

the sky is falling- It's suspenseful? I wonder if I should change the rating, it's not what I had in mind at all, all of you know what Sakura has since I practically told you in the summary. '''

romancerox- Sure he remembers it, why else would I write it down, hehe?

Gabrielle Reinecke- Wow, you reviewed me twice in this chapter. Yup, I'm continuing it. I personally don't know what my story is, too mushy, too cold or a combination of both… I'm glad you like the pace, I think it's actually kind of quick.

Cherryheart- What?! You had it for months without reading it? kicks you

The last time I updated, it was almost exams, and now, it's almost exams again, but this time, it's a lot more harder and torturous, wish me luck again.

Please R&R to support me. :D


	5. Author's note

Author's Note

I'm so, so sorry everyone, I've abandoned all my stories for so long cause I've been indulging myself into Taiwanese dramas for months now and lost my interest in writing. I even considered shutting down my page. However, after reading some of the reviews of my stories, I got really touched and decided to start writing again. This is just a simple note to tell you guys that my stories are not going to be discontinued, (most of them anyway) and thanks for your support. 

I stopped writing earlier cause the reviews were gradually decreasing and I had been experiencing a writer's block. But after some encouragement, I've decided to resume. **Unfortunately**, I have to tell you now that I may not update in a month or so cause some really important exam is coming in a month and I'll be in serious trouble if I mess it up. 


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